What would be the best battery (with a proven track record) to pair with a victron EasySolar 48volt, 5000VA, 70Amp, Mppt 150|100.
All I know is, stay away from Pylontech…
I use 4 Freedom Won batteries and have been doing so for the past 4 + years or so, without any issues (that I’m aware of) at all.
Anecdotal I know, but they work for me.
Pylontech was my last battery, and they failed after 3 years due to swollen cells, and the warranty is now gone in the wind, they just claim to give a warranty until you need it. So much for a OEM’s warranty.
Thus seeing that I am on my own, I want to make an informed decision as to which batteries have worked with victron without issues and have a real genuine warranty if ever needed, not like the aforementioned battery.
I think you will find an approved battery list on the Victron website. Its quite a long list if memory serves but this wont really help as surely Pylontec is on that list too.
Maybe search some of Will Prowse’s videos on Youtube. He tests all things Lithium battery related. He just may have a few good recommendations.
The other thing you can do is ask Jaco de Jongh on this forum which ones he would recommend. He must’ve installed thousands of batteries by now.
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I’m very happy with my SolarMD batteries. They are locally assembled and have very good local support.
Have a look at his “Showcase” thread to get an idea of batteries he uses.
The best local battery IMHO is the FreedomWon Lite series. You will have zero problems with that and a Victron inverter. Not the eTower though. That’s a budget battery, which is on par with BSL.
Next up is BYD. Premium, or Flex. And often forgotten option in South Africa.
And then SolarMD, BlueNova, Dyness.
Then BSL or Pylontech.
Not meant to denigrate any particular brand, just my current “feeling” about the world.
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Thanks, will do
I also looked at Solar MD, they just a bit pricey.
Thanks Swartkat, I will look at the recommended channel, an will also have a chat with Jaco de Jongh. I am looking for a modular battery that is easy to expand as i get more funds.
I’m curious, was the charge limit set up correctly? And did you store the batteries in a place with a decent ambient temperature?
Well, good question, since I was not the one who set it up, and the person setting it up is supposed to be the expert to ensure it was or is done correctly. The batteries was in my garage which did have quite constant temperatures, and it was mostly around the 25 degrees mark.
I’ve been a bit absent on the forum… why the bad rep for Pylontech? Did something happen? I’m still very happy with mine, going on 6 years old of memory serves, and haven’t had a day’s problems. The 15 cell config is irritating, but wasn’t aware that people are having issues? Sometime to look out for?
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So far so good for me as well. Almost 4 years and no issues (touch wood).
Given the shear volume of PT’s in use I guess there will always be some issues and a forum like this is probably where they will be flagged.
ITO 15 cells. Yes a pain and something that would change my mind next time I upgrade the bank… 
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“Supposed to be the expert” is a term I unfortunately hear a lot.
Let’s consider the positive sides though. They are honouring warranties. Usually at least. I have no idea what happened in Hennie’s case. It makes no sense to me. I’m not going to question his experience or get involved there, it just doesn’t sound like what I heard from Pylontech, that they really do stand behind their product.
The failures also seem to be limited to specific years, or at least so it seems.
But with that said, BYD is a better (but also more expensive!) battery in my opinion. The OrionBMS in the FreedomWon really is a better (but more expensive!) BMS. The local support you get from SolarMD and BlueNova really is that great, and especially the newer BlueNova products are leaps ahead of the old stuff from ten years ago.
Don’t read too much into that grouping. Even BSL, at the bottom of my very short list, still makes a very good battery!
The other thing you have to remember, about car mechanics (and other support type people), we’re prone to selection bias. People don’t come to us with the working cases. They bring us the broken ones.
The high number of reports on Pylontech batteries may well be because they’ve sold such a lot of them.
But Hennie wants a recommendation for a good battery, so I listed what I think are the best options for a Victron system. My answer also assumes, sort of, that he is not short of money 
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Very true, as in my case also.
When I considered solar back in 2020, I read up all battery information I could find at that time, and one study (Australian solar battery study) clearly showed that the Pylontech U2000 significantly outperformed the competition, both in charge cycles and in projected longevity.
Little did we know that around 5 years later, a lot of them will be replaced due to swollen cells. 
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My batteries went good for 3 years, no issues, then suddenly when we had a long outage due to substation blow up, and then we noted that when grid was off, the batteries would drain gradually between around 100% to 50%, and then at 50% it would have a sudden drop down to cut out. I reported it to the installer, thats when the whole issue started, whereby the supplier of the installer just said that the batteries are not repairable, due to swollen cells. I am now fighting as to who must replace the batteries as I the user have not programmed the charging of the batteries to have them overcharge, but it looks like I am the one to suffer whilst the big guys throw there shoulders up saying sorry. Thus it has left a bad taste in my mouth for the pylontech brand.
I have had my oldest Pylontech battery for over 7 years at this point. I had a bad batch of US2000’s where the cells swelled on one battery and Pylontech recalled and replaced all four batteries I had bought at the same time.
Other than the one issue, I have had flawless service from my battery bank and would not hesitate to add more Pylontechs if needed in the future.
I dont know which other brands also do this, but Pylontech manufactures the entire battery, BMS, enclosure and cells and they cant pass the buck when it comes to warranty claims.
Just my 2 cents
Thanks plonkster for the response. My challange has been going through multiple companies, I.e the installer (from my insurance), they then bought battery from a sub supplier who also seems to have bought it again from someone else. It just seems that there is no direct access to pylontech and i have not gotten my serial numbers photos, and the batteries was taken away by the installer for testing. And unfortunately, the victron easysolar won’t work without a battery, and resolving the battery issue is seemingly going to be a long story, thus i am looking at the best solution to get a replacement battery, but budget is tight